Part I // BEST Summer of my Life. Thank you, LORD.

Without a doubt, this summer has been the best summer of my life. God worked in my life in so many ways and taught me a whole lot. He taught the other staff members and campers a lot, too. The theme for the summer was Wanted, so all of our nightly skits had a Western theme and the staff members were given cowboy hats to wear on Sundays to welcome the new campers as they arrived with their parents. The theme verse was Luke 9:23, and throughout the nine weeks that I was at Pleasant Vineyard Ministries Camp (PVM) God helped me understand what it really means to deny myself and take up my cross each and every day. For the staff, the recurring theme in our lives that God was working on in our hearts all summer was surrender. God taught me to surrender my family, all other relationships, my job, my plans, my expectations, etc.

When I arrived at PVM I didn't know anyone, other than my bosses Tom and Bryan, who I'd only met once before, so I was pretty shy (like I always am in new situations) and I struggled with homesickness, especially during the first couple of days before most of the staff arrived. I honestly wanted to leave at the beginning of the summer because I was lonely and afraid, but I had to learn to trust God that he had me at PVM for a reason. It took a few weeks, but over time God allowed me to form friendships with many of the staff members. Each and every one of them loved me like Christ loves me, and it was a blessing to work with them. I admire them greatly for their undying love for Jesus and willingness to continually pour out their lives as a living offering to God. As a staff, we planted a multitude of seeds this summer and I'm so excited to see what God does in the lives of the kids throughout the year and into next summer.

God helped me to surrender all of my relationships to him as I continued to grow closer to him these past nine weeks. I finally understand that God is the only One who can completely satisfy my deepest longings and desires, whereas before camp, I still thought that somehow another person would be able to do that for me. God brought me to place where I can honestly say that he's my only desire. I love everything that he's blessed me with, but they're the gifts, and he's the Giver, not vice versa.

When I was asked last minute to switch from being the camp photographer to being a counselor for the last two weeks of camp, God was teaching me to surrender my job. I thought that I would have the same job all summer long, and I was pretty excited about it since I love taking photos, but God had other plans. It was also a lesson in becoming more flexible and allowing God to work through me, rather than me working for God. You see, I was working for God all summer long, but I had to get the place where I was willing to let God have his way and use me where he wanted me, rather than where I wanted to be, doing what I wanted to do. And I'm so glad that God gave me the opportunity to be a counselor to two great groups of girls in grades 4-6th. He made it pretty clear to me these past two weeks that I'm supposed to work with kids as my life profession. I don't know where God's going to take me after I get out of college, or even what he's got planned for me in the next couple of years while I'm still at school, but I'm really excited to see God's plan unfold because it's going to be marvelous and so much better than I could ever imagine!

If life went the way I planned it, it would be pretty miserable, so I'm thankful for a God who knows me better than I know myself, who knows exactly what I need and when I need it. No matter where I go, I'm always leaving friends and having to say goodbyes, which I hate. If you're a missionary kid or pastor's kid or live any other kind of life that requires frequent moves, you'll understand. Saying goodbyes at the end of this summer was so difficult, and now I miss my PVM family, my Ukarumpa classmates, and my Cedarville classmates a great deal. I wish I could see all of them right now, in this very moment. I wish we weren't so far away from each other, and I really wish that I had a car and could drive places, but alas, I have no car and I don't even have a license at the moment. And yet, God has provided for all of my relational needs wherever I go, including this summer at PVM. He's just such a good and loving Father! Praise Him. Saying goodbyes wouldn't be painful if there wasn't any commitment or love, so I have realized that the pain is worth it, but of course I look forward to heaven when all believers will live in community together. What a day that will be, living with our King!

That's Part I of the amazing summer I had at PVM. The underlying theme that God laid on my heart was surrendering to him and his will, and as I let go of one thing after another, I fell more in love in God and was motivated to serve him more. James 2:14-17 comes to mind as I mull over all that God's taught me recently:

What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

My faith grew and as it did, God worked through me to do many good deeds. I praise Him for everything!

Love in Christ,
Jess

70 sextillion.

"70 sextillion known stars in the universe. That's 70 + 22 zeros. 70,000 million million million. And Jesus made them all & holds them all." -Stephen Miller

That's A LOT of stars. Take a moment to think about that and reflect on the amazing universe that God created. We serve a mighty God who loves and cares for each one of us more than we can imagine. I hope you feel wanted because God certainly wants you! :)

Then he said to the crowd, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me." -Luke 9:23

I never wanna leave.

I love this camp so much. God has taught me a whole lot while I've been at PVM, and the recurring theme has been and continues to be surrender. Surrendering to God isn't easy, but God has taught me to, "Surrender everything you are to the LORD and let Him lead you in accordance to his will. His blessings abound to surrendered hearts."

And I've certainly experienced God's blessings this summer at PVM. God has given me great relationships with people I only just met at the beginning of the summer. He's allowed me to share my testimony with a couple of friends and be an encouragement through words and time spent with others listening to what they have to say.

Some days are difficult and I struggle to control my life, but then I have to take a step back and say, "God, I surrender to your will. Be the LORD of my life today. I will go where you send me." Yesterday was one of those days where I was struggling with several situations in my life and I talked with God about them while taking a walk around camp. It was peaceful and I could freely share my frustration and misunderstandings with God. He understood and led me to 2 Corinthians 12 which talks about Paul's thorn in the flesh and how God's power works best in weakness. Verse 9 says: Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”

I'm so encouraged that when I am weak, God is strong. My achievements may not amount to much, but  through Christ, I can do all things.

I'll end with a quote that I read in the book, "Surrender" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss earlier tonight. It speaks volumes about what has been on my heart lately. God wants you and I to be fully surrendered to  him and to live lives of obedient service to him.

Surrender isn't the surrender of the external life, but of the will; when that is done, all is done. There are very few crises in life; the great crisis is the surrender of the will. -Oswald Chambers

God bless you all!

Jess

So in Love.

I just want to sit at my Father's house and listen to his voice. The LORD is my Savior and King! With every choice I make in obedience to his will, he is drawing me nearer and nearer to him. It's a process, and daily I have to deny myself, take up my cross and follow Christ.

The neat thing is that the verse where that comes from, Luke 9:23 is the theme verse at PVM Camp for this summer! I am so blessed to be here at PVM for summer 2012. It's certainly been a stretching experience, and I've only been through staff training, but God has taught me numerous lessons, my faith has been encouraged and strengthened, and the staff members already feel like family to me (that happened within the first week). All of the last school year, while I was at Cedarville University, I felt like God was pouring his love and truth over me, drenching me to the bone with goodness and mercy. I had an itch to get out and share his love in a real, authentic way, and I wanted to keep on using my talents and spiritual gifts to serve God's kingdom for the three months of summer vacation I have. Somehow, God knew that PVM is the best place for me to be at this time in my life, and so he lovingly placed me here, to serve him with my whole heart. I'm not completely sure what's ahead these next couple of months, but I know that no matter what happens, God loves me and he will give me the endurance, peace, patience, and joy I need to thrive at camp.

Today is the day that our first group of campers arrive, and I couldn't be more excited! This group of kids is coming in from the inner city, and I'm assuming that a good portion of them will come from families suffering from abuse in one form or another. These children are desperate for love, and I can't wait to help teach them just how much God loves them, and how much we love them, too, as their counselors and other staff members. Urban week is going to be a hard week, but I'm praying for lives to be changed by the power of the Holy Spirit, and believing that God is going to do great things in and through everyone who sets foot on the PVM Camp property.

Please join me in praying for God's will to be done this summer. Pray that God would use the PVM Camp staff, despite our weaknesses, to bring glory to his name through our service and sacrifice of love to the precious children that he is entrusting us with.

Thank you so much! I plan to post regularly so that you can hear about the work that God is doing here and be encouraged along with me.

God bless!
In Christ,
Jess

The Power of Confession.

I have a confession to make. For the past few months up until very recently, I had been struggling with doubts about my salvation. Part of the problem stemmed from my younger brother's rejection of God, which happened  about a year before that, although that realization didn't hit me for a long time. Although I wasn't quite sure what was causing it, I knew I was feeling distant from God and I needed to get back on track. 

God revealed to me through the words of friends and one of my professors that believing in Him and his sacrifice is a choice. My heart might tell me that God isn't real, that he doesn't exist, and that I've committed too many terrible sins to be a child of God, but that's not true! I'm not worthy on my own, but through Christ's death on the cross for my sins and resurrection on the third day, I've been given new life. 

Last Tuesday night I felt God compelling me to go to A Night of Worship with [re]Kindle, so I went and texted a few of my friends to invite them to go, too. Only Mia responded saying she could go because everyone else was too busy, so she met me in the room where it was held soon after the event started. The speaker spoke on the topic of suffering and then afterwards she asked us to pray together in small groups, confessing sins and struggles to one another and then lifting each other up in prayer. I confessed to Mia that I’d been struggling with believing that I was really saved, so she prayed for me to be assured of my salvation. Her words were simple, but they hit the spot, and really encouraged me. Since then, I haven’t had another doubt about my salvation, but rather a peace and trust that the Lord has saved me and a quiet conviction to do more for Christ.

God is always faithful, even when we are not, and choosing to believe in him no matter what our hearts tell us is taking a bold step of faith that pleases Him greatly. :)

Joy. {a gift from God}

Joy. Pure unadulterated joy.


How do we get it? Does it come from our friends' approval or getting the summer job you poured countless hours applying for?

No. Joy goes so much deeper, to the core of the soul. Joy and happiness are often confused for their similar qualities, but they are certainly not the same thing. If happiness is the tip of the iceberg, then joy is the whole entire iceberg. Happiness comes from circumstances, but joy comes from God.

Have you experienced such joy despite your circumstance that your heart leaped within you and nothing anyone told you could dampen your spirit? I have, in fact I experienced great joy yesterday. It is not that I do not experience joy every day, but I felt it at a deeper level yesterday. Although I was tired and struggling through homework, God gave me a joy that I could not explain apart from Him. I felt so blessed and encouraged.

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! -Galatians 5:22-23


Have you experienced God-given joy? It's such an amazing experience that goes far beyond mere feelings.

I was hired!

I'm super excited to announce that I have a job for this coming summer! I'll be working at Pleasant Vineyard Ministries Camp as the Digital Media Director. The job includes taking photos and video footage, posting them online daily, and creating CDs and DVDs weekly. I'm slightly nervous about not being good enough, but I know that God will sustain me and it will be a great opportunity to grow as a Christian and photographer. Prayers would be much appreciated! Thanks! God is good.

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. -Philippians 4:19